Pizza Hut China has launched their highly-anticipated Genshin Impact collab, but the event is off to a little too much success, prompting cops to shut down the event.
According to a thread on r/GenshinImpact, police had to shut down the event due to what appeared to be a massive turnout- no official numbers have been reported, but photos show men in uniform as well as signs announcing the temporary closure of the restaurants.
Redditor Even_statement8686 says that while the optics may look bad, it’s certainly not as bad as it looks: only two of the restaurants have been closed, and it looks like the event will still proceed for its two week duration.
That being said, according to notices posted on the restaurant photographed on Weibo, it doesn’t look like the affected outlets will be returning soon, as they’ve been suspended for breaching pandemic control regulations.
“Dear Traveler: In order to fully cooperate with epidemic prevention and control, Pizza Hut Gongti North Road store will be closed from August 29, 2022, and Pizza Hut X Genshin Impact activities will be temporarily suspended in this restaurant”, the notice reads.
Another photo shows a notice from the police, saying the restaurant will have to resubmit an evaluation to be allowed to operate again.
Both Pizza Hut and miHoYo have gone all out for the Genshin Impact collab restaurant in China, with photos of the decor showing giant illustrations of Amber and Eula, the representative characters for the collab.
Similarly, Pizza Hut had also put out a special stop motion video as well to promote the event, which rewards players with real life goods themed after the collab.
However, considering the fact that at least one of the participating venues appears to be in a shopping mall, it makes sense that authorities wouldn’t want sprawling gridlocks all in the name of an anime girl dressed like a waitress.
This is far from the first time this has even happened- the previously-announced KFC collab with Genshin Impact was also forced to shutdown due to an excessive crowd, which some fans have also noted.
“lmao, Genshin Impact is still a public safety hazard 2 years after its release”, writes redditor IsNotSafeForSelf